Subject: Protecting American Taxpayers from Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks

Protecting American Taxpayers From Government
Spending on Wasteful Earmarks
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal
Government to be judicious in the expenditure of
taxpayer dollars. To ensure the proper use of taxpayer
funds that are appropriated for Government programs and
purposes, it is necessary that the number and cost of
earmarks be reduced, that their origin and purposes be
transparent, and that they be included in the text of
the bills voted upon by the Congress and presented to
the President. For appropriations laws and other
legislation enacted after the date of this order,
executive agencies should not commit, obligate, or
expend funds on the basis of earmarks included in any
non-statutory source, including requests in reports of
committees of the Congress or other congressional
documents, or communications from or on behalf of
Members of Congress, or any other non-statutory source,
except when required by law or when an agency has
itself determined a project, program, activity, grant,
or other transaction to have merit under statutory
criteria or other merit-based decisionmaking.
Sec. 2. Duties of Agency Heads. (a) With respect to all
appropriations laws and other legislation enacted after
the date of this order, the head of each agency shall
take all necessary steps to ensure that:
(i) agency decisions to commit, obligate, or expend funds for any earmark
are based on the text of laws, and in particular, are not based on language
in any report of a committee of Congress, joint explanatory statement of a
committee of conference of the Congress, statement of managers concerning a
bill in the Congress, or any other non-statutory statement or indication of
views of the Congress, or a House, committee, Member, officer, or staff
thereof;
(ii) agency decisions to commit, obligate, or expend funds for any earmark
are based on authorized, transparent, statutory criteria and merit-based
decision making, in the manner set forth in section II of OMB Memorandum M-
07-10, dated February 15, 2007, to the extent consistent with applicable
law; and
(iii) no oral or written communications concerning earmarks shall supersede
statutory criteria, competitive awards, or merit-based decisionmaking.
(b) An agency shall not consider the views of a House,
committee, Member, officer, or staff of the Congress
with respect to commitments, obligations, or
expenditures to carry out any earmark unless such views
are in writing, to facilitate consideration in
accordance with section 2(a)(ii) above. All written
communications from the Congress, or a House,
committee, Member, officer, or staff thereof,
recommending that funds be committed, obligated, or
expended on any earmark shall be made publicly
available on the Internet by the receiving agency, not
later than 30 days after receipt of such communication,
unless otherwise specifically directed by the head of
the agency, without delegation, after consultation with
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to
preserve appropriate confidentiality between the
executive and legislative branches.
[[Page 6418]]
(c) Heads of agencies shall otherwise implement within
their respective agencies the policy set forth in
section 1 of this order, consistent with such
instructions as the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget may prescribe.
(d) The head of each agency shall upon request provide
to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
information about earmarks and compliance with this
order.
Sec. 3. Definitions. For purposes of this order:
(a) The term ``agency' means an executive agency as
defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code,
and the United States Postal Service and the Postal
Regulatory Commission, but shall exclude the Government
Accountability Office; and
(b) the term ``earmark' means funds provided by the
Congress for projects, programs, or grants where the
purported congressional direction (whether in statutory
text, report language, or other communication)
circumvents otherwise applicable merit-based or
competitive allocation processes, or specifies the
location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the
ability of the executive branch to manage its statutory
and constitutional responsibilities pertaining to the
funds allocation process.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; or
(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented in a manner
consistent with applicable law and subject to the
availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against
the United States, its agencies, instrumentalities, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
President George Bush
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 29, 2008.